Last Months Meeting

This Month's Meeting 20th February

Session on firearms by Keith Bunting

Debrief on SAREX

Debrief on Callouts

Elton's ResignationNew

Elton has resigned from the group on a permanent basis because of other commitments and Gin is acting chairperson until the AGM. We are in the process of posting a job description and advertisement on Volunteering Waikato site. Anyone within the group who is interested may also apply.

Reminders

Availability

If you are going away: Contact Gin with the dates you are unavailable.

If you are unable to attend a training: Contact Matt Hassard.

If you are unable to attend a meeting: Contact Gin or a committee member.

Pager Test Message

Reminder for all those members with pagers. The first of every month a test message is sent out to ensure your pager is operational, if you do not receive this message you should contact Matt.

Personal Details

Contact Russell if there are any changes to your contact details so the callout list is updated. Change of email address also needs to be passed on to Jake for the newsletter.

Pack CoversNew

Russell has received a supply of pack covers, there are mostly large ones left. If you don't get to the meeting please contact Russell if you'd like one.

Matthew KingNew

Matthew King's probation period has been reviewed and his participation will not be progressed any further.

Contact List OnlineNew

The Hamilton SAR Contact List is now on the website. You will need a username and password to access this part of the site. This will be provided at the meeting.

For Sale

Backcountry ration packs – with breakfast, lunch, dinner and extras pack (tea, coffee, chocolate etc.). They are a bargain at $20. Remember – these are sold to our group at this special rate on the understanding that they will only be used during SAREXs or SAR Operations.

Hamilton SAR cloth badge, $6.00 contact Russell

Whistles – Bright and Loud, $12 contact Barry

Discounts for MembersUpdated

R&R Sport – 25% Ask for Wayne Addison.

Trek 'n' Travel – 20%

Bivouac Outdoor – 20%

Macpac Hamilton – up to 30%

Torpedo 7 – 10% Email Barry for discount code.

Kathmandu – Free summit club membership

Mountain Designs – 25% off Mountain Designs Products, 20% off others

Callouts

Land Search & Rescue have had a busy January and February in the Waikato Police District with callouts and trainings. In total we have had 9 full operations where land search and rescue groups have been deployed into the field. The operations ranged from Missing Children, Alzheimer's, medical evacuations to despondents.

These operations involved a good cross section of the SAR community including SERT paramedics, DOC, Westpac, Land SAR and local communities, all working together to achieve a common goal. As a result we have managed to save a life or two and assisted the rest to safety.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the groups involved and reinforce that the time and effort you put into Search & Rescue makes a difference in the community. Without your help there would be fewer successful outcomes to such operations.

Good work and well done.
Dave Pitchford

February 29th a 55 year old female on Ohaupo Rd. Found at A&E shortly after teams were deployed.

February 29th a 25 year old male near Te Kuiti. Standdown came 15mins later.

March 9th a 21 year old male with autism in Te Awamutu. He has a Wandatrak pendent but had removed it. He was found by a patrol car travelling to Cambridge shortly after the first SAR teams were deployed.

For a Laugh - Windows vs. Ford

At a recent computer expo, Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If Ford had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.

In response to Bill's comments, Ford issued a press release stating:
If Ford had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash...twice a day.

Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

Occasionally, executing a manoeuvres such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five per cent of the roads.

The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single “This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.

The airbag system would ask, “Are you sure?” before deploying.

Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls wouldoperate in the same manner as the old car.

You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

When all else fails, you could call "customer service" in some foreign country and be instructed in some foreign language how to fix your car yourself!

Calendar

The calendar is now available at hsar.org.nz/calendar. This will be keep up to date so you can refer to it at any time.